(and our local partner Paul from Calabash Tours in Port Elizabeth was there – so an additional treat!)

Volunteering in orphanages is a hugely popular way for many to “give back” but child protection experts have been telling us for some years that there are many dangers in this well meaning practice. A whole “industry” – that would horrify well-meaning volunteers – has grown from this desire to work with orphans.

To learn more take a look at the links at the end of this post

We at people and places are passionate about child protection and we have listened and learnt a huge amount from child protection and child rights experts – so we have been advocating against volunteering in orphanages for a number of years.

We are therefore very pleased and proud to be involved with an initiative that seeks to highlight these issues and help a greater understanding of the issues involved.

The Better Volunteering Better Care Network is an initiative supported by Oak Foundation and the Human Dignity Foundation, and led by actors in the child protection sector, to better understand the issues associated with international volunteering in residential care centres – aiming to discourage international volunteering in residential care centres whilst promoting ethical volunteering alternatives supporting children and families.

people and places were invited to participate in the network due to our internationally recognised role in campaigning for and managing responsible volunteer travel – and our contribution to the debate on volunteering in residential care centres. Sallie is a member of the steering group

Much has been written on the potential harm caused by orphanage tourism

Great changes don’t happen overnight, but there are definite developments over the years, and this school is just one example of the projects where our volunteers are effectively workingas part of a team, even when months and miles away from each other in their volunteer placement and home lives !

It’s taken a while, but gradually the media is beginning to recognise and write about the POSITIVE results of volunteering, and how to achieve such results. At ‘people and places‘, we’ve always differentiated between volunteering and ‘voluntourism’ … this understanding is beginning to be expressed in the media … gradually !

“If volunteers are truly to help communities overseas, charities and NGOs must take the time to match their skills with the right projects”

No surprise there for us! Putting the right people in the right places is exactly what we do for each individual volunteer placement … matching is the key for volunteers and projects to benefit from their time together.

As you will appreciate we are desperate to enable our volunteers to return to Nepal as soon as they wish to. However, it is still illegal to volunteer in Nepal without a work permit and it is still a lengthy, costly and problematic process – which realistically precludes our volunteers from travelling there. Sallie is working closely with various people in Nepal to try to resolve this problem – but it’s taking time!

But please do not let this stop you visiting Nepal – Nepal needs tourism much more than aid now – and the vast majority of Nepal is safe to visit.

“If volunteers are truly to help communities overseas, charities and NGOs must take the time to match their skills with the right projects,” says Matthew Jenkin, editor of Guardian Careers

mutual learning, sharing, hugging!

Key word: “MATCH” …

Our own approach here at ‘people and places‘ is – and always has been – to begin with an understanding of local need in order to match each volunteer’s skills and experience to local need. This matching process – vital in facilitating mutually rewarding and beneficial placements – takes time and is paramount!

Sallie gives a brief synopsis of our approach:

“There are a number of cultural issues – will the local community be comfortable with strangers in their midst? How will they make sure that their culture is protected and respected? They need to make sure that the recruitment organisation has devised a code of conduct and, if there are children present, a child protection policy. A needs assessment must be done.”

Michael’s question 1: “Does the project where you’ll be working meet a real need, and is it the appropriate response to that need?”
and from Sallie: “Would I be allowed to do this work in my own country?”

We know there are some institutions which are well-run, and organisations which concentrate on re-homing children with their extended families and communities … Here are some links to research more thoroughly:

“since when did it become acceptable to offer time with children as a prize? Would you be happy if your son, sister, nephew or grandchild was being offered up as a competition win for people from thousands of miles away? Have the families of these children given consent for their youngest to be sold in this way? There is a reverse lottery at play here. The children in Nepal, Mexico or Thailand don’t know if they are getting a “good” volunteer of a “bad” one. The difference being is that they didn’t enter that competition.”